The decision to close an Anchorage school to help close the school district’s massive budget gap has parents and community members upset over what they say was a hasty timeline.
The Anchorage School Board voted in February to close three elementary schools as part of its goal of addressing a $90 million budget shortfall. Two of the schools — Fire Lake and Lake Otis — had weeks of community conversations ahead of those votes. The other, Campbell STEM, had roughly 11 days.
It was the Friday before Presidents Day, a Monday, that the Anchorage School District sent Campbell parents an email saying it was recommending the school for closure. Public testimony on the closure went before the school board that Tuesday. Parents say that didn’t give them enough time to react before the board voted to close the school the following Tuesday. Now they want the Anchorage Assembly to reverse that decision…